


Let them sleep

by Fandom_Trash_Goblin



Series: Stex drabbles [14]
Category: Starlight Express - Phillips/Stilgoe/Webber
Genre: Choking, Cuddling, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Passing Out, Polyamory, Vomiting, cursing, getting beat up, look out this is intense, some tiny dirty jokes in the end, someone makes him eat something that is technically poison for steamers so idk how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 02:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30149355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandom_Trash_Goblin/pseuds/Fandom_Trash_Goblin
Summary: ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ First time writing actual hurt/comfort, lets gooooo!
Relationships: Future Gear/Tank/Lube/Rusty (Implied), Gear/Tank/Lube (Starlight Express)
Series: Stex drabbles [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122296
Kudos: 4





	Let them sleep

“Oi! Steam train!”   
  


Rusty froze in place. Anyone who called him ‘Steam train’ was not looking to do any good. Turning around, his heart sunk as he saw the triplets.

The triplets were not kind at all. Made up of three big adolescent engines, they had no issue with shoving around the freight and other trains just for a few laughs and some shoddy boost in pride.

“Whatcha doin’ out here alone, Steam train?” Bolt sneered. He was the ‘smart one’ of the trio, despite still being blockhead like the rest of the gang.

“I-I’m just taking a walk.” Rusty stuttered, gulping when the eldest narrowed her eyes at him. 

“Ya sure ya ain’t jus’ muckin’ up the air for us diesels?” Clutch snorted, exhaust coming out of her nose not unlike a bull. Clutch was the worst of the three. She was the biggest and the strongest of them with an ego to match. 

“You give off exhaust too...” Rusty said sheepishly.

_That_ set them off.

“You sayin’ we’re like steamers!?” Bolt growled.

“We’re ten times better than steamers!” Clutch hissed. 

“Yeah! We ain’t weak!” Latch piped up. Latch was the baby of the group and was just following the other two because nobody else in the gang liked him. He was weak by diesel standards, but his two siblings protected him. He didn’t partake in their bullying often, right now he was just sipping on a can of fuel and watching it go down. 

“Shut up, Latch!” The two older triplets snapped before turning back to Rusty. 

“You’re lucky that ya haven’t been sent to the scrap heap yet! Steamers ain’t good for nothin’ but parts!” Bolt bared his teeth.

“I betcha he wants to be converted to diesel! What steamer wouldn’t wanna become worth something?” Clutch cackled.

Rusty’s eyes narrowed, and he chose that moment to be brave. 

“Why would I want to be a big unreliable piece of metal!? You ain’t worth nothin’ more than I am!” 

Now he’d done it.

Nobody moved for a moment. Then Bolt lurched forwards, “You pile of junk!”

Rusty didn’t get the chance to run before the engine was holding him in a headlock and almost choking him.

“Hold ‘em there!” Clutch snapped with a signature smirk. She had an idea. That wasn’t good.

Turning around, she snatched the can of fuel from Latch. The youngest triplet protested at first, but once he got the idea he grinned and watched on eagerly.

“Let’s see if we can’t convert you to diesel.” 

Those words from Clutch shook Rusty to the core.

He couldn’t find any words to say in his defense before his head was tipped back and the cans straw was shoved in his mouth.

The second the fuel hit his tongue, he convulsed. He’d tasted the bitter burn of diesel once before. That one time was because he was a curious kid and he’d quickly spat it all out and tried not to vomit. 

Right now he didn’t have that option.

All he could focus on was how much his mouth burned. That, and the roaring laughter of the three diesels torturing him. 

Hot tears ran down his face and he felt himself get let go. Falling to his hands and knees, he couldn’t take it anymore. He puked. Right on someone’s wheels.

“You corroded little shit!” Latch kicked him in the stomach.

Falling onto his side, Rusty tried his best to protect his head but it was useless when you were being kicked and punched by big strong diesels who had no concept of mercy. 

He panicked more when he felt hands wrap around his throat.

His struggling didn’t do much and the last thing he heard was some snarling about obsolete runts who should have been scrapped. 

Then his world went black. 

...............

“Dude, we are supposed to be turning in for the night, what in Starlight are we doing here?” Lube groaned. He was in the process of removing his paint when Gear insisted they go and checkout some mysterious noise he heard. 

“I told you, I heard something!” Gear huffed. 

“But we’re supposed to be snuggling...” Tank pouted quietly. 

“Nobody goes behind the sheds at night except for trains who ain’t doing any good.” Gear reasoned.

“Why do we care?” Lube sighed, he just wanted to relax and cuddle. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently so.

“Because I ain’t sleeping when my conscience ain’t cleared.” Gear said with finality before suddenly stopping.

“Oh Starlight...” Tank brought a hand to his mouth when he saw the dented little steamer on the tracks. 

“Okay, I change my mind. It was a good thing we came here.” Lube said, skating towards the passed out engine and reaching down to be sure he went dead.

“Who the Midnight did this!?” Tank growled out. It was rare to hear Tank yell in anger, so Gear patted him in the shoulder reassuringly.

“He passed out.” Lube said, brushing his hand on Rusty’s cheek. 

“How bad?” Gear pressed on, leaning next to Lube.

“He’s just dented and bruised...and he vomited.” Lube grimaced a little at the puke on the ground.

“He’s cold.” Tank noted, setting his hand on his firebox.

“...What do we do?” Gear asked. He may be the leader, but sometimes he had to look to someone else for instructions. 

“Well, The Tool Twins ain’t open right now...so we take him with us.” Lube stated, standing up. 

“What?” Gear looked at Lube, trying to decipher what in Daylight he was thinking.

“Tank, if you would.” Lube motioned to Rusty, allowing the larger engine to pick him up bridal style. 

“L-Lube! We can’t let him stay in our shed! GB will kill us!” Gear stuttered. It was no secret that Greaseball despised Rusty, and he had no clue of his gang members’ affection for the little steamer.

“What? You gonna get flustered?” Lube asked blankly.

Gear did get flustered, but only after that comment, “No! I just don’t wanna get in trouble!”

“You’re the beta! You wouldn’t get in trouble!” Tank stated as if it was obvious.

“That’s not- don’t go without me!” Gear huffed, following his partners as they began the journey back to their shed. 

“What Greaseball doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Lube said, opening their shed door so that Tank wouldn’t jostle Rusty to much.

“That saying never makes sense!” Gear whispered furiously. 

“I’m sure it’ll turn out fine.” Lube shoved Gear in their shed before returning to the mirror to remove the last bit of paint on his face.

“What do we tell him when he wakes up?” Gear asked as Tank carefully set Rusty down on their nest and removed his chest and shoulder plating. 

“The truth.” Lube shrugged, brushing his hair. He needed a touch up, his roots were starting to show a little. 

Tank yawned and stretched before climbing into their nest and curling against Rusty’s back, nuzzling his nose into the steamers neck.

The blonde looked up to see Gear looking at him confused, “What? He’s cold and we don’t want him to freeze, do we?”

“Right.” Lube nodded, shoving Gear onto their nest. He knew that he sometimes needed a shove to go along with something. 

After making sure everyone was situated, Lube settled down nest to Rusty. 

“This isn’t how I imagined him staying the night in our shed.” Gear admitted. 

“What, you imagined him being conscious? At least I hope you did...” Lube deadpanned. 

“I mostly imagined him with less bruises.” Gear sighed. 

“Oh, I’m sure you imagined him with bruises but they were the better kind.” lube smirked. He knew how to push Gear’s buttons. 

“Shut it.” Gear blushed as Tank giggled.

Silence fell over them and the sounds of Tank’s soft snoring could be heard. Soon after, Lube and Gear fell into a peaceful slumber. 

.......

Warm was the first thing Rusty felt.

Slowly opening his eyes, he realized he was in a shed. It was definitely wasn’t his, and it definitely wasn’t daytime judging by how dark it was.

Adjusting his eyes to the lack of light, he realized someone’s arms were wrapped around his middle.

It took him a second, but then he realized who’s shed he was in.

He’d heard Tank snoring a few times when the large engine fell asleep outside while waiting for his two partners to return from late-night work. 

And now he was in their shed. No. In their _nest_. Probably with the other two near him.

Shit.

Rusty was having a small dilemma.

On one hand, he was warm and undeniably comfortable. If they wanted to hurt him then they would have already. He could just settle back in and return to sleep. 

On the other hand, they were members of Greaseball’s gang and were therefore dangerous. He’d seen the three of them give him glances before that he couldn’t pinpoint. That scared him.

If he tried to leave, then they would likely awake. And his injuries were still aching so he didn’t want to risk falling and hurting himself more...

He made his choice.

As he settled back down and tried to calm his mind, he swore that he felt someone gently kissing the back of his neck.


End file.
